Kamal Ghorui
South Africa women’s cricket team beat India women’s cricket team by eight wickets in the second T20I on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.The result was set up by South Africa’s bowlers, who dismissed India for 147. The chase was then completed in 17.1 overs, with the hosts reaching 148 for two.South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt scored 54 and was supported by Sune Luus, who made 57. The pair added 106 runs for the first wicket in 12 overs, which put South Africa in control of the chase.Wolvaardt built her innings by placing the ball into gaps and rotated strike regularly. She also hit a six over covers off Sree Charani and reached her fifty in 30 balls, her 15th in T20Is. At the other end, Luus focused on singles and twos and hit a six off Shreyanka Patil.Patil later dismissed both Wolvaardt and Luus, but by then the result was already in South Africa’s favour.
Earlier, Shafali Verma scored 57 to lead India’s innings, but the rest of the batting line-up did not build on the start. India were bowled out for 147.Shafali added 53 runs for the third wicket with debutant Anushka Sharma, who made 28. However, India had already lost Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues in successive overs to Chloe Tryon (3/22).After the partnership, South Africa’s bowlers regained control. Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune (3/31) and Nadine de Klerk used slower balls and cutters to restrict scoring.Shafali, who had attacked Sekhukhune earlier in the innings, slowed down before reaching her fifty in 31 balls. She was then dismissed after hitting the ball in the air to Noku Mlaba, with de Klerk taking the catch.Anushka was also dismissed by Tryon as India slipped from 99 for two in 12 overs to 109 for four in the 14th over.From there, India lost wickets regularly. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma were all dismissed while trying to increase the scoring rate.India lost eight wickets for 48 runs in that phase, which limited their total and allowed South Africa to complete the chase comfortably.
